Differences in innovation-related characteristics between singleskilled and multiskilled health practitioner...

A survey of educational programs preparing single- and multiskilled health practitioners was conducted to determine the predictive power of organizational formalization and centralization and individual program director cosmopolitanism (ie, orientation to their larger profession as opposed to local environment) upon readiness to innovate for the educational units. Questionnaires were sent to 45 directors of programs preparing multiskilled health practitioners and 49 directors of programs preparing singleskilled health practitioners. Results indicated no significant differences between program directors of single- and multiskilled programs in their perceptions of the readiness to innovate for their educational units. Regression analysis indicated that a decentralized organization was a predictor of an educational unit's readiness to innovate. This finding held for both single- and multiskilled programs. Although cosmopolitanism was not a significant predictor of readiness to innovate, program directors at four-year institutions had a significantly higher level of that characteristic than directors at two-year institutions. The results of this study, although limited by individual and not multiple responses from each institution, do not indicate any differences in the ability of organizational formalization and centralization to predict the innovative characteristics of single- and multiskilled allied health programs. Additionally, the cosmopolitanism of program directors also does not predict these same characteristics.